Heartstrings: Chances
by TacomaSquall
Summary: Tenth in the ongoing series of stand-alone stories and poems. Cloud and Tifa face some very tough choices as they prepare to bring a new life into the world. R/R Please!


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Heartstrings: Chances

by TacomaSquall

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story takes place a month before the events of _Farewells_, and _Vincent Unleashed_.

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Part One

Tifa Lockhart was tired of being sick. She had been vomiting in the mornings for the last month. She felt listless most of the time, and she rapidly tired out now. She could no longer take the time to run the Desert Rose Inn the way she would like to. She had been able to hide her illness from Cloud, who was being as obtuse as ever, as her partner and housemate.

She stood at the bar of her inn, the Desert Rose of Kalm. It did not quite feel as comfortable as the old Seventh Heaven, in Midgar's slums, had felt, but it was a nice little inn. Taking advantage of her notoriety as a member of AVALANCHE and the immense sums of money gained by the group during its adventures, Tifa had purchased the Kalm Inn and renamed it. She employed a number of the refugees from Midgar as labor to help expand the inn, bringing its capacity up to 30 beds.

Tifa remembered how she had made the decision to name the Inn the Desert Rose. Right after the destruction of Meteor, Tifa had returned to Midgar's ruins to help with the rescue efforts. Cloud joined her. When Tifa asked him why, Cloud said that he was giving back to the people he had hurt by some of his mistakes. During the search for survivors, they found the ruins of Sector 7, and the Seventh Heaven.

Tifa's eyes watered, remembering her feeling of despair at the sight of her beloved inn in ruins. Somehow, it had been worse seeing the inn in ruins than it was during the entire journey after Sephiroth.

Cloud saw her distress, and spoke to her of opening a new inn. He told her that he would get her something worthwhile for it, and left. Tifa helped Barret, organizing and cooking for the tent city of refugees outside Kalm.

A month later, Cloud returned to Kalm. He was covered head to toe by faint, new scars. When she asked him where he had been, he grinned wearily and revealed the Desert Rose, garnered by defeating the mysterious Ruby Weapon that lurked beneath the desert sands. Cloud knelt before her, the Desert Rose in his hand, and asked her to marry him.

Tifa was jogged from her reverie by the sound of the cedar front door opening. As she watched, three people walked into the room: The gruff, one-armed former leader of AVALANCHE, Barret Wallace; The happy-go-lucky Wutai ninja, Yuffie Kisaragi; And her fiance, the slayer of Sephiroth, Cloud Strife.

Barret was wearing a black suit tailored to fit his massive frame. At over six feet tall, and weighing three hundred pounds, all of which were muscle, Barret was easily one of the biggest men she Tifa had ever known. His right arm was lacking the usual combat prosthesis, but had a simple prosthetic hand fitted. In Barret's left hand, he carried a synthetic case that likely contained one of his gun-arms, in case of trouble.

Cloud was dressed in jeans and white t-shirt. Over the t-shirt, he wore a fur-lined black jacket that was left in the Inn by a young customer a few weeks before. His hair was combed back, in Tifa's ongoing battle to tame her fiance's unruly hair. It was battle she was doomed to lose, she feared.

Cloud spoke. "Honey, Barret and Yuffie are here to help us get things set up for the wedding! Everything is quiet in the new city up in the mountains, and Cid is getting the reactor started, so Barret was able to leave for a while. Yuffie tagged along for the ride."

Standing next to Barret, Yuffie was wearing her usual halter-top and shorts. Tifa noticed that the girl had not bobbed her hair after the last time that they had met. Yuffie's hair was now stretched past her shoulders, and worn loose. In her right hand, the ninja girl bore her favorite travelling weapon, the Conformer. The air from the door carried a whiff of the young woman's perfume, a sweet lilac-honey fragrance.

Tifa gagged when she smelled the perfume. Panic raced across her face, and she barely made it behind the counter to the sink before she emptied the contents of her stomach. _Damn, that stuff Yuffie's wearing is awful!_ Holding herself against the brim of the sink, she could feel the bitter taste of bile coming up her throat. She retched again.

Cloud leapt over the bar and ran to Tifa's side. Barret and Yuffie walked over quickly to offer any aid they could as well. "Tifa, what's wrong?"

Tifa turned her face to the man she loved. The shame she felt at Cloud seeing her this way warred with the growing certainty that she was carrying his child. "Cloud, I think I am pregnant."

Cloud took a step backwards, and his jaw dropped in shock. "Pregnant? I'm going to be a father?"

Barret reached over the bar and clapped his compatriot on the shoulder. "Congratulations! Looks like you and Tifa have got the family started already!" He laughed.

Yuffie smiled at Cloud and Tifa. "We're happy for you. I mean –" Her voice trailed off as horror bloomed on Cloud's face. "What's wrong?"

Cloud's face grew grim. "Barret, is the _Highwind_ still here?""Yeah. What are you gonna need her for?"

"We've got to go to the ShinRa Mansion in Nibelheim." He turned his attention to Yuffie. "Is Vincent still working in the Mansion, trying to find out exactly what HoJo did to him?"

Yuffie nodded. "He's crawling through all of the books and labs that were hidden there."

"Good. We're going to need his help." Cloud turned back to Barret. "I need the two of you to get the _Highwind_ ready to go, as soon as you can. Tifa and I will meet you there."

As the two left, Tifa asked her fiance, "What's got you so worried, Cloud?"

"Tifa, we have to go to Nibelheim to have some tests done."

Tifa was perplexed, and she pressed on. "Why?"

Cloud's voice became sad. "You remember what HoJo used to call me?"

Tifa shrugged. "A Sephiroth-clone?"

"Right." His voice became hard. "I underwent a process that infused my cells with Mako energy. I also have had Jenova's cells injected into my system."

The realization of what Cloud was trying to say dawned on Tifa. "You think –"

"Yes. Any child of ours may carry that taint, which could lead to deformity or madness."

****

Part Two:

Nestled against the slopes of towering Mount Nibel was a small town. Bustling with activity, Nibelheim survived the trauma of the Meteor's coming, almost a year ago, nearly unscathed. The small town became a haven for research, after it was revealed that there was a fully stocked biochemistry/genetic research center hidden beneath the largest house in town, the ShinRa Mansion. The center's presence drew some of the greatest minds in the world, those unwilling to work with the seemingly-benevolent ShinRa.

The leader of the project was the former Turk and member of AVALANCHE, Vincent Valentine. He combed through the copious notes left by HoJo and the Jenova Project's other members, seeking understanding of what he had been made into. His search was all-consuming, and he rapidly appointed a chief administrator from the scientists that had already gathered. His choice for the administrative position was the idealistic Dr. Ruth Pischke.

A biochemist and geneticist who worked for a brief time in the Jenova Project until she realized that the Project's goal was to create the perfect human soldier, Dr. Pischke was the only living non-ShinRa employee to win the coveted ShinRa Science Medal. Since that day, she had devoted her time to independent research in other fields, specifically, the cross-breeding of crops to increase yield.

Her antipathy towards ShinRa deepened when her only son was killed on board the Midgar while the submarine was transporting a cargo to Costa del Sol. The submarine had been lost with all hands. ShinRa stated that the sub was lost due to terrorist action, but Dr. Pischke believed otherwise. In the aftermath of the Meteor's devastation, her research came to the forefront, as the city-states that made up the Commonwealth realized that they each needed to fend for themselves until trade could be fully reestablished.

Dr. Pischke was sitting at her desk when she received a vid-phone call from the entry of the Research Center. The Research Center's entry was the foyer of the former ShinRa Mansion. The furniture that had been present was thrown out, and a desk had been installed there, as one of Dr. Pischke's first actions as administrator. Visitors to the Center needed to know where to go to get where they needed to be, and the administrator was unwilling to have people wandering around the halls, interrupting experiments, because they didn't know where they were going.

"Dr. Pischke? The members of AVALANCHE that Mr. Valentine is expecting are here." The receptionist sounded awestruck by the presence of some of the world's saviors.

"Very well. Send them to my office in Sub-level One. Page Mr. Valentine and let him know his visitors are here." She paused. "Also, page Devin and ask her to come to my office, immediately." She smiled. Devin Cornell was one of the best childbirth specialists living. Her work was instrumental in saving the life of the Jenova's Project's greatest success, after its birth-mother had died. The woman had come out of retirement after Meteor, citing the need for research into the effects of fallout from Meteor upon future generations.

Dr. Pischke didn't have to wait very long before there was a soft knock upon her door. She stood up from her desk. "Come in."

The door swung open and Devin Cornell haltingly walked in. A wizened old woman of ninety years' age, Devin walked with the assistance of a cane in her right hand. She paused after taking a couple of steps into the room. "Ruth. It is a pleasure, as always, to see you take some time to see an old woman." Her voice was soft and measured. She had no difficulty speaking, but she tended to be very deliberate when she spoke.

Dr. Pischke strode over to the older woman and took her arm. She guided the ancient doctor to a chair set by a small table of unstained mahogany. As she eased the woman into the seat, she heard other footsteps approaching. She smiled at Devin and then turned to face the other arrivals.

Cloud Strife. Tifa Lockhart. Barret Wallace. Yuffie Kisaragi. Vincent Valentine. Heroes all, they made the Doctor feel somewhat small in comparison. They walked into the office.

Vincent spoke. "This is Dr. Ruth Pischke, the Administrator of the Nibelheim Research Center. Ruth, I'd like to introduce you to Yuffie Kisaragi." The ninja smiled and waved at the Doctor. "Barret Wallace."

The one-armed man smiled suddenly. "Yo. I hear you run this place while Vincent digs for all of HoJo's secrets?"

Dr. Pischke smiled slightly. "I wouldn't exactly put it that way. I make sure that only the most critical things are brought to Mr. Valentine."

Vincent nodded. "She has done a wonderful job. I have not yet found HoJo's notes concerning my transformation, but I am confident I will before too long." He turned slightly. "This is AVALANCHE's leader and Sephiroth's slayer, Cloud Strife."

Dr. Pischke noted that the man with the unruly blond hair seemed very distracted. She was surprised at the sight of him. Somehow, she expected someone more, well, heroic than the man in front of her.

"And this is his fiancee, Tifa Lockhart." The woman introduced last smiled wanly at the administrator, and Dr. Pischke realized the reason for this visit to the Center. This was not going to be a tour of the facility. _Something was wrong with Tifa Lockhart._

"Please, why don't we all be seated, so we can start this meeting that Mr. Valentine –"

"Vincent," Vincent grated.

"This meeting that Vincent has set up." Dr. Pischke amended.

Vincent stood and faced the others. "We are here because we have reason to suspect that Tifa is pregnant," he stated bluntly. "Devin, I brought you into this meeting because you are the most skilled childbirth specialist I know. We need to ascertain whether Tifa is pregnant, and whether the child is deformed or mutated by either the Jenova cells that were injected into Cloud, or the Mako-based radiation he was dosed by."

Devin nodded slowly. Remaining seated, she spoke. "The choices you need to make are three-fold, then. We can terminate this pregnancy now. Is that what you want? What do you want to do if tests show the child has Mako or Jenova influence? What will you do if the child is deformed in some way?"

Cloud stood and said, in a heated voice, "I am not going to be the father of another –"

Tifa cut him off. "I do not want to terminate the pregnancy, unless it is necessary. If the child is Mako- or Jenova-tainted, I want to know as much as I can before I make the decision to terminate." Before Cloud could say anything, Tifa turned to him and added, "Sephiroth wasn't the way he was just because of his mutation. HoJo's training was just as much to blame."

Devin also spoke. "Besides, it is not truly your choice, Cloud." She sighed. "As long as Tifa is capable of making the choice, only she can choose to end the pregnancy. That is my rule." Chagrined, Cloud nodded and sat back down.

Devin continued. "Tifa, you and I will go and run a quick test to confirm that you are pregnant. If the rest of you will pardon us?" She stood and walked slowly out of the office, Tifa in tow.

******

Thirty minutes later, Tifa returned to the office, beaming. "I am pregnant! Devin found the baby's heartbeat and let me hear it, too!"

Cloud felt his worries crowd even closer in. He shoved aside his fears that any child of his was going to be a monster, and smiled at Tifa. _At least, she was happy…_

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Part Three:

Cloud sat in a chair in the darkened room. It was once a dormitory room for one of the scientists that once worked here during the heyday of the Jenova Project. He sat in a still-sturdy wooden chair, turned backwards so his hands and chin were resting on the chair's back. He slumped, worried about the woman he loved, Tifa.

She was bearing his child. He should be happy. He should be thrilled to know that they were bringing a new life into the world they had helped save. He should be overjoyed to know that Tifa and he would have children to raise and cherish. All he could think about, however, was the terrifying possibility that the child could be another Sephiroth.

It was ironic that the tests were taking place here. This was the place where Lucresia gave up her life, and Sephiroth was born and reared. This was where HoJo twisted Vincent into a monster, and then proceeded to make an even greater monster out of his own son. He could feel the ghosts of the pasts swarming around him, terrifying him with the possibility that history would repeat itself.

The darkness swirled, as motes of dust coalesced into a form. The form of the monster he had helped destroy. _Sephiroth._

"Cloud." The apparition's voice was soft, with none of the disdain it had so often expressed in life towards the former SOLDIER. Its mien was saddened. "All I wanted was my mother's love and approval."

Cloud's eyes went wide with shock. Without thinking, he grabbed for the sword he used to carry strapped to his back. As his hand closed upon air, Cloud remembered that he had left his sword in the Highwind, moored to the roof of the Research Center. He leapt out of the chair, causing it to slide across the room, into the bed. Trying to remember everything that Tifa had ever said about fighting with bare hands, Cloud dove at the specter and passed through it. He whirled towards the apparition of his greatest foe.

"You're dead! I killed you!"

As Cloud screamed his denial, the door to the dormitory room opened, allowing light from the hallway beyond to spill into the room. The wind of the door's opening shattered the apparition, and the dust motes scattered in the breath of air. A figure stood in the entryway, silhouetted in the light from the hall. As Cloud turned towards the door, the figure shuffled into the room. It was Devin Cornell.

"Mr. Strife, I need to speak with you about your fiancee's pregnancy. Could I please ask you to sit down?"

Numbly, Cloud sat. He shook his head to clear it of the vision. "Is the baby going to be normal?"

Devin sighed. _It was going to be one of those._ "We have run a blood test on Tifa, and the results are in. There is no sign of any of the standard birth defects. There is no sign of an increased risk of Down's syndrome, or of an open spinal cord."

Cloud brightened. "That's good news, right?"

Devin steeled herself and continued. "The test reports there are accelerated levels of Mako waste products in Tifa's blood. This is something we have been encountering more and more often in the months following the destruction of Midgar. At the levels we have detected, there is a 1 in 5 chance of some type of mutation."

Devin went on. "I want to make sure you understand that the 29 cases of mutation we have recorded thus far only show one instance of a non-viable mutation."

Cloud demanded, "What do you mean by 'non-viable'?" He clenched his fists in helpless anger.

Devin's voice dropped slightly. "A non-viable offspring is one that cannot live outside of the womb."

Cloud said desperately, "You said there was a chance that the baby is mutated. What happens if that isn't the case?"

"Very likely, it would mean that Tifa may have complications later on during the pregnancy. It could also mean that she has been recently exposed to Mako energies."

Cloud shook his head. "How can we find out whether the child is mutated or not?"

Devin sighed in relief. She wasn't going to have to try and calm down the slayer of Sephiroth. "We can run another test. In it, we will use sound waves at a low frequency to create an image of what the baby looks like. Because of the unique properties of sound waves, we will be able to look at the internal organs and developing skeletal structures. We can even detect an unborn child's gender."

"And we'll be able to tell if the baby is deformed?"

"Most deformities are visible under sonographic analysis," Devin commented. "However, not all deformities can be spotted, and the quality of the sonographic scan will be dependednt upon the position of the baby."

"What about mutations?" Worry crept into Cloud's voice.

"If there are physical mutations, we can detect them with this test. However, the sonographic scan cannot detect genetic abnormalities that have no physical manifestation." Seeing Cloud's dismay, Devin added, "We can look later on in the pregnancy at further, non-intrusive tests to determine if there are any modifications to the baby's genetic code. Tests that allow us to look at the amniotic fluid the baby is in can risk both the baby's and mother's lives."

Cloud nodded soberly. "There is no way we can conclusively determine that the child is unmodified before it is born?"

Devin nodded her agreement. "I am afraid there is no way."

Cloud turned away from the woman, and gazed into the darkness. He felt the wizened old woman's hand on his shoulder. "Your fiancee needs your support and help, Cloud. She is very frightened. She wants to go forward with the sonographic scan, but she is afraid of carrying a mutated baby. She needs you to support her in this time of trial."

The old woman shuffled her way out of the dormitory room, leaving the door ajar. Cloud paused momentarily, then straightened. Tifa needed him.

As Cloud strode out the door, Sephiroth's eyes followed his former enemy. "Love. What I never had, Strife. If you do not withhold your love from this child, it will have little chance of following my path."

As it spoke softly, the apparition's eyes narrowed. "I was snared by my mother's spell. I will know if your child heeds Jenova's voice. Before your child shares my fate, I will ensure she is incapable of harming anyone."

"In this way, I shall pay the debt I owe the Planet."

The apparition vanished. Empty dust motes settled to the floor of the now-empty dormitory room.

****

Part Four:

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Hunger.

The mouse was nosing its way through the rubble-strewn cavern, looking for fallen morsels. The tiny rodent was lost and had been wandering in this endless series of caves for what seemed like an eternity of hunger. It had fled the snow and cold that covered the world's surface above, heading deeper and deeper into the earth in a quest for warmth. Now, it wished with all of its tiny heart it had stayed on the surface, where food could at least be found.

The rodent paused, and brushed its whiskers out. It sniffed the air, more from habit than any hope of scenting anything edible. It started to run its tiny paws through its whiskers again, and then stopped. It reared up on its tiny hind legs and sniffed again.

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Food.

It darted over by a pile of rubble and sniffed. The smell was weaker there. It darted back to its starting point, and sniffed briefly. Yes, it had smelled food. It darted ahead slightly, toward a monstrous pile of fallen rocks. The scent of food grew stronger.

Unable to contain itself, it scurried towards the rockfall. The mouse darted ahead, until its weak vision made out a slick of a black, gummy substance that coated the ground near the rockfall. Caution warred against hunger, as the smell seemed to be coming from the slick. Hunger won out, and the mouse dashed forward.

The mouse placed one forepaw on the slick and bent down to sniff at it. One of the mouse's whiskers touched the slick and stuck. It tried to pull its nose away from the slick and failed, as the odor coming from the slick turned into the fetor that emanated from rotting food. The mouse tried to grab hold of its whickers with its paws, but only succeeded in bringing one forepaw to its nose. The other paw pulled a fraction of an inch off of the slick, with gummy strands of the slick sticking to it. The strands thickened until they pulled the mouse's paw back into the mire.

The slick began creeping slowly up the rodent's whiskers and foreleg, inexorably coating the mouse's entire body. The mouse struggled mightily against the malificent tug of the gummy substance, exhausting what little strength it had rapidly. In exhaustion, it collapsed, a third of its lower body coated in the slick along with its whiskers. The slick flowed rapidly over the remainder of the mouse. Just before the substance flowed into the mouse's mouth, it lifted its head slightly and screamed. The scream lasted but a second, before it was squelched by the relentless advance of the slick.

The slick detached from the rock pile, and coated the mouse from head to toe. Minutes passed, with the mouse-like shape on the ground of the cavern roiling and churning. Finally, the mouse opened its baleful red eyes.

As Jenova familiarized herself with her new form, she cast her mind abroad. She had sensed the stirrings of a new life containing her essence. The new life called to her, waking her from her recuperative sleep. She needed much more sustenance to be able to support a larger form such as the one she had sported when Sephiroth failed her.

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Perhaps this new life will be easier to control…

******

Tifa was lying on a table in the Research Center. Her abdomen was exposed, and had been coated in a conductive jelly. Cloud stood to her right, holding her hand, and feeling embarassed for her. Their attention was focused on a screen, where distorted images from inside Tifa's body were displayed.

Standing on the left side of the brown-haired woman was Devin Cornell. She held a sonographic transducer in her hand, pressed to the flesh of Tifa's lower abdomen. The transducer projected waves of sound into Tifa's body, where they would be reflected back to the transducer, creating an eerie picture of what was within the young woman's womb.

A distorted figure moved on the screen. "See, that is your baby's arm. Can you see the humerus and the radius?" Devin pointed at the screen, to two thin white lines, one canted away from the other at a slight angle. "The angle here is poor, but the fingers have already developed, as have the toes."

Cloud gasped. "That is amazing!" Tifa just nodded wordlessly.

Devin shifted the scanner. "Here is your baby's head." The baby shifted slightly, bringing its head out of alignment on the screen. The elderly doctor moved the scanner around, pressing Tifa's flesh down. The distorted head of the baby appeared on screen. She slowly moved the scanner around, examining the baby's head for any signs of deformation. "We're looking at the baby's skull. If there was something wrong with it, there would likely be a break here," pointing at the back or the head, "or here," as she pointed to the baby's forehead.

She slightly increased the gain on the transducer, and the bones of the skull fuzzed out, allowing the three to look at the baby's brain. The distorted picture that appeared on the screen resembled a human brain about as much as it resembled a plateful of scrambled eggs. Devin pointed at the picture on-screen, specifically at three darkened areas. "As you can see, the child's brain seems to be developing normally. If there were a deformity, it would show in the development of one of these areas."

None of three noted the presence of a fourth being, watching over the tests with a detached interest. Sephiroth sensed that Jenova was no longer quiescent, and had begun his vigil over the unborn child. If she could insinuate her thoughts into the baby's during this crucial time, she could imprint her consciousness upon it. In effect the child would be a mental clone of the shapeshifting destroyer.

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Not so long as I am able to stop you, mother…

******

In the North Crater, Jenova's mouse form stiffened as she sent her mind forth, seeking the bearers of her genetic code. Her questing thoughts sped southwards from the Glacier, searching for the baby that she knew could be the key to her rebirth.

Her thoughts surged past Rocket Town with barely a pause, sensing no one who bore her cells within them. As they proceeded further south, she began to sense phantom-like impressions of her pattern, embedded in the earth and air, the fauna and flora, of the area in which Sephiroth spent his formative years. The impressions gained strength as she continued southwards, drawing ever-nearer to Mount Nibel. Ever-closer to the Research Center, and the unwitting members of AVALANCHE.

Her will passed Mount Nibel, and the scene of Sephiroth's death at Cloud's hands, six years before. The traces there confused the alien, and her thoughts roamed the halls of the old Nibel Mountain reactor for an infinitesimally long minute. The memory of her imprisonment there enraged the shapeshifter. Finding only phantoms and memories there, she continued southwards.

******

Sephiroth looked up from the child. _She comes._ He stepped through the doorway, and drew the remembered blade of the Masamune.

******

Jenova drew near the Research Center, and the presence of the one who broke her power called to her like a beacon. _Cloud Strife._ Her fury mounting alongside her frustration at not finding the child she sought, Jenova swept into the Research Center, intent on using what remaining power she had over the ex-SOLDIER to end his pitiful existence in excruciating agony.

Her rage bore her to the hallway which led to the sonographic examination room. She was brought up short by the mental presence of her previous puppet. Sephiroth stood, with the killing sword held in both spectral hands, in the alien's way.

"You shall not twist another like you did me, mother." Sephiroth's voice brimmed with bitterness at the being which had destroyed his sanity.

Jenova snarled at her former puppet. "And you think that you can stop me?" She sneered. "I think not." With a quick gesture, her astral form grew larger, taking on the appearance she had worn when she faced AVALANCHE in the City of the Ancients. Her hands elongated, becoming sword-keen talons.

Sephiroth charged the alien as it was changing shapes. The Masamune swept downwards in a slash meant to divide Jenova in two. With a fluid motion, the alien sidestepped the blow and countered with a slash of her talons that the phantom was barely able to deflect.

The two circled each other, looking intently at the other's defenses for any advantage that might bring the battle to a sudden close.

******

Inside the examination room, the doctor had moved the transducer to a different position. From the vantage point thus created, she examined the baby's skeletal system from neck on down. Anxiously, Cloud and Tifa waited for news that the distorted images on the monitor in front of them meant that their child was alright.

Finally, the doctor spoke. "I can detect no deformities."

Cloud released the breath he had unconsciously been holding and beamed at Tifa. Softly, he said to her, "The baby is going to be alright. Maybe there is something to this karma stuff that Yuffie's father keeps talking about."

Tifa felt all the tension that built up within her since she had guessed she was pregnant flood her, demanding a release. Tears of joy and relief began running down her face.

Devin saw the tears and frowned. "I did not say the baby would not be mutated. I said only that the baby had no deformities," she admonished.

Cloud looked at the doctor and then back at the woman he loved. "It doesn't matter. If there is something different about our baby, we will make sure that the child cherishes it, and that the child knows it has two loving parents."

Tifa spoke softly. "I am not going to call my baby an 'it,' Cloud." She looked at the elderly doctor. "Can you tell me if the baby is a boy or girl?"

Devin nodded thoughtfully. "It is a little early to tell, but I can look, if you wish. It will take a couple of moments to see."

******

The two disembodied combatants waged a silent war, neither speaking. Parry met thrust and slash met press met dodge met feint met riposte. They flowed from attack into defense and back again. Both had been marked by the other, but neither had landed a telling blow.

Sephiroth disengaged and took a step back, his sword poised to block any attacks Jenova made against him. He could not maintain this pace forever. He no longer had the energy reserves of a material body, and what energy he had was being expended profligately in this attempt to halt his former master. Soon, he would dissipate, and his vow to stop Jenova would be meaningless.

Jenova pressed the attack, attempting to overbear the ghostly swordsman. If she could but pull him down, she would be able to disperse his essence, and possibly even consume his spirit. Sephiroth saw his peril, and leapt over the charging alien. As he landed, he tried desperately to remember ways to defeat an enemy that had him severely outclassed. He remembered his first serious fight against Cloud, in Nibelheim, and inspiration struck. He dashed towards the alien.

Jenova turned to face her opponent, only to see him bearing down on her. She grinned evilly, as she reached ahead of herself with her talons pointing towards Sephiroth.

The swordsman impaled himself on Jenova's talons, trapping both of her hands. He crashed into her, and they fell through the doorway of the examination room, unnoticed by the occupants thereof.

In agony, Sephiroth brought the Masamune whipping across with all of his might. The blade bit into Jenova's neck, severing the head of her non-corporeal form. As the head went flying, Jenova dispatched her thoughts back to the mouse-form she occupied in the North Crater, ensuring her survival, as Sephiroth knew she would.

Sephiroth collapsed, feeling his energy draining from the wounds he knew were fatal.

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I won the battle, but lost the war.

******

Devin moved the transducer slightly. A distorted image of the unborn child's midsection appeared on the monitor. She smiled. "Cloud and Tifa, it looks like you are going to have a wonderful baby girl."

Cloud smiled. "We talked about what we would do if we ever had children. What would we name the child? We both agreed that our first daughter would be named for someone we both miss, and love dearly." His voice broke. _Someone I cannot hold onto, because Tifa deserves a whole man as her husband._

Tifa smiled up at her man. The smile was tinged with a look of understanding about his inability to speak. She said, "Our daughter's name will be Aeris."

******

Sephiroth heard the announcement of the baby's name. _Perhaps I have enough strength yet…_

He reached out to the unborn child's mind, and put his waning strength into crafting a barrier that could block out the insidious influence of Jenova's voice. He fought the oblivion he knew awaited him for as long as he could, making the barrier as complete as possible, considering the fact that the child would change greatly in the months and years that would follow. He began to fade.

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Sooner or later, Jenova will come looking for you, Aeris. You have to be ready.

Into the barrier, he spun all of the knowledge of the workings of technology and magic he possessed. He gave every learned reflex he could, every trick and strategy. He keyed it so that she would gain access to all he knew the moment she was assaulted by Jenova.

Certain he was not finished, but content that he had done what he could to protect the daughter of his slayer, Sephiroth turned and surrendered to his final adversary.

__

Farewell, Aeris. You are my hope for redemption, that my deeds do not all turn to evil.

******

In response, in Tifa's womb, Aeris Strife opened her eyes. They blazed a brilliant, Mako-charged blue, instead of the bird-like blue of most children.

****

Fin


End file.
